by Mona Marple
“Let’s go,” Nick said.
We moved as quickly as we could, but nobody had cleared a path through the forest and the snow was up past our knees. Our progress was frustratingly slow, but luckily it was just as slow for the figure moving ahead in a desperate bid to get away.
“Stop! We need to speak to you! Stay where you are!” I called.
“We can’t do this much longer, Holly. Frostbite and exposure don’t care whether you’re on official police business or not, they’ll still get you.”
I sighed with frustration. “But we’re so close!”
Nick pursed his lips. “Five more minutes.”
“Can you try shouting?” I asked.
He cleared his throat. Already our voices were growing weak from the cold. I couldn’t feel my feet.
“This is Nick Claus. You’re being asked to come back down right away. This is an official Claus request,” he said.
“Is that a thing? An official Claus request?” I asked.
He nodded. “We try not to use them. But they come in handy occasionally. It holds the same weight as a police order.”
I watched as the shape up ahead stopped, turned, and then raised a hand and waved at us, before starting to stomp through the snow back towards us.
“It worked,” I gasped.
Nick shrugged with modesty.
“Nicholas! Were you calling for me?” Peggy-Sue asked as she reached us. She was shivering uncontrollably and I realised that we all had to get our legs out of the snow right away.
We made our way back down to Peggy-Sue’s house and crowded around her log fire. The house was as immaculate inside as outside.
“Why were you running?” I asked.
“Running? I was just having a stroll. I like to check on the baubles,” Peggy-Sue said.
“You were running. Tell us why,” Nick said.
“I saw something. I was scared that the killer was coming for me.”
“And why would they do that?” I asked.
“Because I found Twisty. Maybe the killer thinks I could have seen something. I was in fear for my life and I made a run for it. I’d never have ran away from a Claus.”
“We’re here to ask you some questions,” I said.
“I’ve already told Wiggles everything I know,” Peggy-Sue said.
“You’ve told him one version, but I’m here for the truth.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
“You told me you have no experience with reindeer,” I reminded her.
“I don’t. I have a phobia.”
“A phobia?”
“That’s right. Terrified of the filthy things, I am. I couldn’t go near one,” Peggy-Sue said.
“That’s interesting. Because you told me and Wiggles that you were allergic.”
“I am! That too!” Peggy-Sue said with a nervous laugh.
“Allergic and phobic? That’s unlucky,” Nick said.
“Yes, I guess so. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Everyone in Candy Cane Hollow has reindeer experience. You thought you could lie to me about that because I’m new here.”
Peggy-Sue blinked at me but said nothing.
“The truth is, you don’t like reindeers. You probably don’t like any animals because they get dirty and they smell and they shed hair. But you have enough reindeer knowledge to have caused poor Twisty’s death,” I said.
I saw a flash of movement outside the window as Wiggles slowly passed by in his Fiat.
“And why would I have wanted to hurt Twisty?” Peggy-Sue said.
I nodded slowly. “That’s been the question, hasn’t it? You had the motive to kill Greasy, but I can’t find any reason you’d want Twisty dead. And then I realised, that’s why you did it. You killed Twisty to cast suspicion elsewhere, and over to Drayton specifically.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peggy-Sue said.
“You wanted Greasy dead because you couldn’t stand someone complaining about you. His letter to the Chronicles made you furious. How dare he complain about you! Complaining is your job, your civic duty. You wanted him dead but you thought the glitter ball crash would look like an accident.”
“This is an interesting story but it has nothing to do with me. And I will complain. I’ll be filing a report with Wiggles about the use of civilians to do police work.”
“It was a clever idea, I’ll give you that. You were up there on the beams but as soon as that glitter ball fell, everyone’s attention was focused on Greasy. You slipped down the stairs without anyone noticing,” Nick said.
“Exactly. And you nearly got away with it being considered an accident. But when I started to investigate whether it could have been foul play, that’s when you panicked. You were scared that I’d work it out. Twisty’s death was the ultimate red herring.”
“And on what evidence are you here suggesting I’m the murderer when it’s quite clearly Drayton?” Peggy-Sue asked.
“Drayton was so scared that he could have been the third victim, he voluntarily took himself off to Candy Cane Custody,” I explained.
Peggy-Sue clicked her tongue. “What a wimp.”
“Yes, what a wimp indeed. But he’d have had no reason to be so scared if he was the killer.”
“He’s a good actor, then. Maybe that’s why so many ladies fall for his charms. Serial killers are often charismatic, you know.”
“Know a lot about serial killers, do you?” Nick asked.
“What? No! I just heard that on the radio once. You can’t seriously think that I’m a cold-blooded killer.”
“I think in your head, you’re not a killer. It’s interesting that you didn’t actually touch either of them. You used other things as your weapons. But, then, you’re so hygiene focused, of course you’d do that.”
Peggy-Sue looked beyond me and out of the window as Wiggles drove by again. It seemed that he was either struggling to find the address, or having issues finding a parking space - which was hard to believe given he was driving a car about the size of a matchbox.
“I simply want what’s best for Candy Cane Hollow. You may mock me for insisting that things are just right, but I do it so that others strive for higher standards,” Peggy-Sue said.
“What was it about Greasy’s letter that annoyed you so much?” I asked.
“It was the style not the substance. I accept his point. My complaints do have an impact on local businesses, as they should. If Bruce wants to sell more baubles, he shouldn’t engage in false advertising. My reports keep the standards high. But I don’t think that Greasy had even checked his letter for spelling errors!”
“That’s what annoyed you?” I asked in disbelief.
“Of course it is. The grammar was awful. He had double negatives in there and his sentence structure was childish. I have had letters rejected by the Chronicles before, can you believe that? They have rejected me and accepted him and his amateur wittering. It was an absolute mockery of true journalism.”
“Peggy-Sue, you told me you hadn’t seen the letter,” I reminded her.
Her eyes flicked to a box on the coffee table, then she gasped. “I bought a back copy. I told you I would.”
“Back copies take two weeks to be delivered,” Nick said.
I frowned at him.
“My mum keeps a folder of all of the editions that mention me, and she’s missed a few before. Had to order the back copies. There’s this whole archive process. Anyway…”
“What’s in the box?” I asked.
Peggy-Sue kept her eyes fixed on me and tried to look nonchalant. “Nothing.”
I reached down and picked it up. The box was stuffed full of paper clippings. It was a memory box containing all of Peggy-Sue’s complaint letters, and right there at the top was Greasy’s letter.
“You did this?” I held up the clipping for Peggy-Sue to see.
She nodded. She had edited Greasy’s letter in red pen, picking out spelling errors
and what she had called lazy and predictable word choices.
There was a sticky note on the clipping and in writing that was much clunkier than her own, someone had responded to her suggested edits:
Ya can take these and stick them up you’re Candy Cane hollow!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Do you see what I was dealing with?” Peggy-Sue asked.
“You found the response offensive?”
“I certainly did. He used the wrong ‘your’ and didn’t capitalise Hollow. Not to mention the attack on my decency that all of those exclamation marks present.”
“Greasy wrote this note?” I asked.
“No comment,” Peggy-Sue said.
“We can get a handwriting sample done easily enough. If that’s Greasy’s handwriting, there’s no point denying it.”
“Fine, it’s his. The little toe rag couldn’t resist the chance to show his stupidity again!”
“So you had seen the letter before he died,” I said.
“Huh?”
“You’ve seen the letter, edited it and sent it to him, and he’s responded. All of that happened before he was killed,” I broke it down for her.
“It’s no loss to anyone! He was a cantankerous elf and not much use to anyone. The Greasy Spoon would have been better off without him. That old girlfriend of his, she could do so much better, even if she does have an unnatural obsession for reindeer. I didn’t see the harm.”
“You didn’t see the harm in killing him?” I pushed.
She shrugged.
“And how about Twisty? I’m right that he just got caught up in your attempts to avoid suspicion?”
“Now, I do feel bad about Twisty. I had nothing against him at all. But self-preservation is hard wired into us. I had little choice,” Peggy-Sue said.
“How did you get him to meet you?” Nick asked.
“I do always go out walking at that time, so I knew the streets would be empty. I told him I had news about Greasy’s death. He was so easy to fool he probably deserved what came.”
“And the reindeer?”
“Just a neighbour’s. She knew nothing about it. I’d borrowed him and returned him before she woke up.”
“We’re going to have to take you to Candy Cane Custody. You know that, right?”
“Do you think it was too obvious doing it right outside Sleigh A While? I did wonder about that. But I wanted to point towards Drayton, because goodness gumdrops we need to get rid of him.”
I glanced at Nick.
“Get rid of him? Why?”
“He’s leaving a trail of broken hearts around Candy Cane Hollow! He takes a lady’s number and then doesn’t call her. He has no respect for women,” Peggy-Sue said.
“Has he done something to you?” I asked.
Peggy-Sue glared at me as if the question was stupid. “He’d never have a chance with me. I’d eat a man like him for breakfast.”
“I’m sure you would,” I agreed.
She sighed. “My daughter works for him. He’s been… inappropriate. He was the obvious person to have killed them both, and if you had just followed the clues and charged him, we’d be rid of him too!”
“Would your daughter speak to the police?” Nick asked.
“Absolutely not. Summer doesn’t want any repercussions. Which is why I was sorting it all out for her.”
“Well, Drayton’s in custody. We have some time to look into that. But let’s get back to what you’ve done. You’ve killed two men.”
Peggy-Sue flared her nostrils and glanced past me again. I followed her gaze and saw that Wiggles had parked up opposite the house and was unfolding himself from the Fiat.
“No!” Nick cried.
I spun around and saw that Peggy-Sue had made a run for it. I watched as she ran into the tiny kitchen and tried to open the door.
Luckily, I’d pocketed the key when we’d brought her back inside.
I watched in horror as she backed up and then threw herself into the full glass panel with all of her strength. The glass shattered and she fell through it, into the garden.
Nick and I were after her, but she had a lead and we watched as she darted back into the Festive Forest.
Wiggles was behind us, having let himself in the unlocked front door. “That her?”
“That’s her. Shall we follow?” I panted.
“No. You’ve already been in there once. I’m not letting you risk it again. Wiggles and I will go,” Nick said.
“I came prepared,” Wiggles said. He had protective trousers on and he passed a pair to Nick, who slipped them on over the clothes he already wore.
“I can help,” I said.
“Stay here, Holly. That’s an official Claus request,” Nick said. He leaned in and kissed me and then he was gone.
Wiggles was far more sprightly than I’d have expected, given his fairly rotund shape, and they dashed through the snow and into the forest.
I watched until I couldn’t see them any longer, and I carried on watching until the sky grew navy and then black.
Eventually, I closed the door and returned to the fire, feeling guilty for enjoying warmth while they were out battling the elements.
I decided to busy myself by looking through Peggy-Sue’s memory box. I read letters of complaint about the official town colours not being festive enough one year, about the residents on her street not clearing snow from their drives, and about the carol singers being too loud and out of tune.
There was a noise out back and I jumped to my feet.
In the garden, Nick and Wiggles carried Peggy-Sue. Nick’s eyebrows had icicles attached to them and Wiggles’ cheeks were the reddest things I’d ever seen.
“Call an ambulance,” Nick grunted to me.
I grabbed my phone and dialled right away as they carried Peggy-Sue in and laid her some distance from the fire.
“Shouldn’t she be closer to the heat?” I asked.
“She has to get warm gradually. This is the most dangerous bit,” Nick explained.
He stood by the fire and Wiggles joined him.
Peggy-Sue’s skin was blue and her eyes were closed. The tips of her fingers had begun to blacken.
“Are you two okay?” I asked, my voice barely audible. I was terrified.
“We’ll be fine,” Nick said.
“Hazard of the job,” Wiggles added.
I gave the operator the address and we did the only thing we could.
We waited for help to arrive.
17
I sat in Wiggles’ office and told him what I’d witnessed.
“These are serious allegations,” Wiggles said as he wrote my statement out by hand.
“I know,” I said. I had decided to go on the record to report Drayton’s behaviour. I owed it to Summer.
“I’ll have a word with Drayton and see what he has to say. In fact, I’ll do it now before I finish for the day.”
“Sounds like you have some plans?”
“It’s the Figure Skating competition tonight. I need to spend some time getting myself mentally composed. I have a pre-competition routine that involves a hot bubble bath and a little…”
“Let me guess. Last Christmas?”
“How did you know?” Wiggles asked.
“Just an instinct I had,” I laughed.
“Will you come? There’s always room for the Claus family in the VIP section.”
“I’d love to,” I said. I wasn’t part of the Claus family, and Wiggles knew it, but I didn’t want to correct him.
“Right. Wait here. I’ll be back,” Wiggles said and he set off out of the room to question Drayton.
I sat alone in Wiggles’ bare office then pulled my phone out of my pocket.
I was going to message Nick and ask if he could join me at the Figure Skating competition, but I realised there was something else I needed to do first.
I dialled the number and listened as the line rang and rang and rang.
You’re through to August. I can’t speak right now but i
f you leave your name and number after the tone, I’ll get back to you within 72 hours.
I laughed. “Hey sis. You’re the only person I know who gives a timeframe on their personal voicemail! I was just calling to tell you all about Mr Hunkalicious. I guess I’ll hear from you within 72 hours! Love you, bye!”
The phone rang straight away and I answered with a laugh. “Desperate to hear about Mr Hunkalicious, huh?”
“Mr who?” Nick’s voice filled my ear.
“Oh! It’s you! I thought you were my sister,” I said as my cheeks flamed.
“Who’s this Mr Hunkaliffer?” Nick asked. I had no idea whether he’d genuinely misheard me or was saving my modesty but I was happy to play along.
“Oh, he’s just someone I, erm, read about. Anyway, how are things?”
Nick had escorted Peggy-Sue and the paramedics to the hospital so that Wiggles could get back to Candy Cane Custody and make a good start on filing the paperwork.
“She’s conscious. She woke up a few minutes ago,” Nick said.
I felt myself exhale with relief. Sure, Peggy-Sue was a killer. But I wanted her in prison, not dead.
“Has she said anything?” I asked.
“She was very emotional. Cried and apologised. I think she realised that Summer’s going to find out what she did.”
“It’s going to hit her hard. You don’t think Peggy-Sue will try to change her story, say it wasn’t her?”
“I don’t think so. How are things going over there?”
“Well, Wiggles has invited me to watch the Figure Skating competition tonight and I can take a date with me,” I teased.
“You can? Any idea who you might ask?”
“Ooh, I’ve been considering the options!” I laughed. “And there’s really only one I’d consider. What do you say? Will you come?”
“You know I will,” Nick said.
A stern voice piped up in the background and he gave a nervous laugh.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“I’ve just been told off for being on my phone inside the hospital. I’ll finish up here and see you back home?”
“Sure!” I said. I ended the call and suddenly felt a presence in the room with me.
Wiggles was in the doorway, a grin plastered on his face.